Toys ‘R’ Us debuts a dedicated e-commerce site for China

Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. is moving beyond its 30 bricks-and-mortar stores in China with the launch of a dedicated e-commerce site for Chinese consumers, the company announced today.

Toys ‘R’ Us, No. 29 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 guide, does not break out international sales in its earnings reports, but it says that e-commerce generated $1 billion in revenue worldwide in 2011.

China offers a golden opportunity for Toys ‘R’ Us to grow its international sales. China’s Ministry of Commerce says business-to-consumer web sales in 2011 totaled 782.56 billion yuan ($124.22 billion), a 53.7% increase from the prior year, and that e-commerce accounted for 4.3% of total retail sales. Consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group forecasts e-commerce will account for 7.4% of China’s retail sales by 2015.

Toys ‘R’ Us also announced the debut of mobile commerce sites and apps for consumers in other nations, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom. In coming months consumers in Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands also will be able to use their smartphones to visit Toys ‘R’ Us m-commerce sites, the retailer says.